The Bali Hai’s old Missionary’s Downfall cocktail is an odd one in that it’s quite different from the standard Don the Beachcomber original. First of all, it includes Martinique rum rather than light Puerto Rican rum, and then it subs Fassionola (the only appearance of this on any Bali Hai menu) and coconut cream for peach brandy and simple syrup. I searched high and low for a version of the Missionary’s Downfall that included coconut as ingredient and came up empty. While Bali Hai used Rhum Negrita originally, I used St. James amber.

Currently the Bali Hai serves a Missionary’s Downfall that’s similar to its earlier version, but apparently uses passion fruit syrup in place of the fassionola, and has replaced the Martinique rum with a combo of Demerara and light (probably Ron Rico) rums.

My first attempt at the old recipe resulted in a drink where you couldn’t tell there was any coconut cream in it at all. So I upped it from ½ ounce to 1 ounce and that improved it. The cocktail came out looking like Pepto Bismol (much more pink than it looks in this photo), but was tasty. Give it a whirl, if you’re so inclined.

Kevin - I used St James as it's the only Martinique rum I have. I think it came out OK, but I've never used Rhum Negrita so I don't know how they compare. As for the color, I don't know what else you could expect from mixing fassionola with coconut cream. If you tackle this drink (or any of the others), I'd love to know your thoughts/results.
_________________"I am Lono!" -- Hunter S. Thompson

Wow, over a month since I posted the last cocktail. Work, parties, other projects and Tiki Oasis got in the way.

The Shark’s Tooth as it used to be served at Bali Hai is a difficult one to figure. First, cocktails called the Shark’s Tooth are made quite differently depending on the place serving them. The 1972 “Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide” lists three differently versions, each quite different from the other. The key to deciphering Bali Hai’s old version lies in one of the listed ingredients: sloe gin. I found three recipes for Shark’s Tooth cocktails using sloe gin, and all are very close to one another. The first two I found were from Cocktaildb.com:

OK, assuming these three recipes were akin to the old Bali Hai version, we would need to include vermouth, passion fruit, probably club soda, and possibly bitters. But one thing that kept nagging at me is that the Bali Hai menu doesn’t list passion fruit, and I can’t help but think that if they used it, they would have listed it. Passion fruit is just too exotic sounding not to list. On the other hand, the cocktail probably needs syrup of some kind to balance out the drink. Since sloe gin is already reddish, grenadine doesn’t seem necessary. After mulling all this over, this is what I came up with:

Shake all ingredients (except soda water) with crushed ice, and strain into a pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Add a splash of soda water.

This is a tasty cocktail, one I'd happily have again. Nicely balanced, with bite coming from the lime juice and sloe gin, a good rumminess from the demerara, and the simple syrup and soda water balancing it all out. You may notice I didn't add vermouth. Honestly, I didn't have any on hand, and I really don't think it needs it. But if you feel like experimenting, by all means try the drink with vermouth.

Note: These days, the Bali Hai has twisted its Shark’s Tooth into something altogether different by adding pineapple juice and using only light rum. I've had it, and while it's fine, I don't think it's as good as the one I whipped up.

This is a great thread. Lots of drinks to try and an excuse (like I need any) to expand my bottle count. I used to think I was a drunk for having as many bottles as I do until I found this place. I'm not even in the semi pros here. (yet)

Storm
_________________I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

The Bali Hai’s Hurricane is interesting in that the recipe the restaurant uses has been changed at least twice. The earliest version appears to have included Barbados rum and pineapple and lime juices. The second version still had pineapple and lime juices, but Demerara rum was substituted for the Barbados, and coconut cream was added. I decided to try my hand at making both early versions.

Add all ingredients into a blender with ice, and blend in high for five seconds. I figured either simple syrup or grenadine should be added. I flipped a coin and used simple syrup. It’s kind of difficult to go wrong with a cocktail like this – pineapple, rum, lime and sugar. How could it not be tasty? But of course it’s nothing like a real Hurricane.

Add all ingredients into a blender with ice, and blend in high for five seconds. Coconut cream seems like an odd addition for a somewhat iconic cocktail. But bars and restaurants were taking such liberties with the Mai Tai and Zombie that maybe it wasn’t that off the wall. I used grenadine in this one. Not a bad cocktail – sort of a riff on a piña colada.

Try them. Your results may vary. The latest version now on Bali Hai’s menu lists the ingredients as dark Jamaican rum, passion fruit (syrup or juice?), lime juice, and a “mix of berries.” Either by design or coincidence, the latest version is fairly close to Pat O’Brien’s original Hurricane.

I find the current Mai Tais served at Bali Hai to be bad. Not everyone agrees with me. Some people love them. I think they’re harsh and each time I’ve attempted one, I’ve wished I hadn’t. On the current Bali Hai menu, the World Famous Bali Hai Mai Tai is listed with the words, “No Fruit Juice Added!” They even underline those words for emphasis. To me, this is not something to brag about. The current Bali Hai recipe calls for Sweet ‘n Sour instead of using citrus juice and rock candy syrup. In other words, Bali Hai is boasting that instead of fresh juice, they’re serving you citric acid. Yum! And from other posts on the subject of Bali Hai’s Mai Tai, it appears that the restaurant doubles all the ingredients from the “official recipe” which is why they’re so strong.

But the Bali Hai Mai Tai was not always like this. Back in the early days, when I guess the cocktail wasn’t so world famous, Bali Hai’s Mai Tai was made with actual fruit juices, according to old menus. The fact that “fruit juices” is listed as plural on the menu, and no mention of what fruits they were, makes this something of a mystery. One of the juices was certainly lime juice, but what was the second? (And I’m assuming there were only two juices – theoretically there could have been more). My first thought is that one of the juices could be pineapple. Certainly, the “island-style” Mai Tai is pretty common. But it seems to me that if they removed pineapple juice for the version now being served, their regular clientele would have noticed and probably complained. Orange juice is also a commonly added juice to Mai Tais, and if that had been removed for the current version it might not have been that noticeable of a change given that there was (and still is) orange liqueur in the drink. So maybe it was a lime-orange or a lemon-orange combination (the latter is what I believe the Shelter Island’s Whaler’s Punch used). The only other option I can think of is that maybe both lime and lemon juices were used. The Bali Hai’s Daiquiri was made that way.

So what’s the answer? I don’t know. So here’s my guess as to how the Mai Tai used to be made.

The old Bali Hai menus listed this cocktail as "the driest martini made." According to a Wikipedia article, the saketini was invented by a Japanese chef name Matsuda San who served the drink at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. I've always thought that the old Bali Hai menus (shown on the first page of this thread) were from the 1950s, due to the fact that it lists Cuban rum for one of the cocktails. So I have to wonder if Matsuda San actually invented this drink. Perhaps he did and had served it elsewhere before the '64 Fair.

Whatever the case, various recipes can be found on the web with no clear distinction on what the ratio of gin to sake should be. Likewise, the garnish seems to be anyone’s whim. I found recipes calling for an olive, a lemon twist, a melon ball, and a cucumber slice. The Bali Hai menu doesn’t give much of a clue, only listing the two ingredients.

Shake well with ice. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with an olive. I should note that I am not a martini guy. Well, actually I’m not even a gin guy. And to top it off, I'm not much of a sake guy either. So to me this seemed like drinking a fragrant, but bitter pill. So to get some objectivity, I invited a couple of friends over who are fans of gin cocktails. They both liked it and felt the flavor of the sake came through well, but didn't overpower the gin. And they both said, "Wow, that is dry."

I wasn’t that excited about making the Tahitian Manhattan. It’s basically just a Manhattan with rum instead of rye. I suppose this and the Sak-ini (see above) were added to the menu to appease those who weren’t familiar with tropical cocktails and give them choices of drinks they might recognize. What makes this “Tahitian”? Um, well, nothing really.

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

This is actually a pretty good cocktail. It’s immediately recognizable as a Manhattan, but with the rum flavor coming through. I don’t know what brand of Virgin Islands rum the Bali Hai originally used, but I think if I had come up with it originally I’d have used a Jamaican rum instead, such as Appleton V/X.

On 2014-04-05 14:31, arriano wrote:I wasn’t that excited about making the Tahitian Manhattan. It’s basically just a Manhattan with rum instead of rye.
This is actually a pretty good cocktail. It’s immediately recognizable as a Manhattan, but with the rum flavor coming through. I don’t know what brand of Virgin Islands rum the Bali Hai originally used, but I think if I had come up with it originally I’d have used a Jamaican rum instead, such as Appleton V/X.

I think there are a few posts (if not threads) around here praising the rum manhattan. I really enjoy a rum manhattan using El Dorado 8 y.o.

I think there are a few posts (if not threads) around here praising the rum manhattan. I really enjoy a rum manhattan using El Dorado 8 y.o.

That does sound good. I'll have to try that.

I only have one last "lost" cocktail to make, but it takes a hard-to-find ingredient: Rose Mint. I can't find it anywhere, but I have discovered that Burpee sells seeds for it. So once I get the seeds, and grow the damn stuff myself, I'll make a Coral Reef. But that'll probably take awhile.